Eat Like a Local: Rome

In a city where the recipes often predate the buildings, Rome's best meals are marvelously simple. We unearth five quintessential trattorias where the cucina romana is home-cooked, the company is homegrown, and the owners are happy (enough) to have you.

To be clear, Lucia, the gruff proprietress, and her husband, Tonino, an older man of few words, do not want you here. They will do everything they can to dissuade you from waiting for a table. Ignore their pleas and stick it out—normally it takes no more than 20 minutes. When you finally gain entry, you'll see what all the fuss is about: The small space is unassuming, but in spite of the owners' shtick, it's incredibly inviting. Beyond the simple cork walls, the smells of simmering sauces waft out from the kitchen. Once you have a table, Lucia changes her tune entirely: Now you're part of the inner circle, not one of those suckers waiting outside. If you're lucky, it will start raining and you can hunker down for the better part of the afternoon. This is the rare trattoria where you are welcome to eat, drink, and eat some more with no regard for the time—or the growing line. Best dish:Rigatoni cacio e pepe. Ask for it with spaghetti instead of rigatoni so the sauce sticks to the pasta better; they're usually happy to make the switch. When the bowl arrives—drizzled in olive oil, with black pepper and a small mountain of freshly grated pecorino cheese—stir the ingredients together until you're left with the most delicious take on mac and cheese you've ever tasted. Via della Madonna dei Monti 79, 011-39/06-474-5325, rigatoni cacio e pepe $9.50, closed Sundays, cash only.

Armando al PantheonPantheon

Next year, Armando's will be celebrating its 50th birthday, which is saying something for a restaurant in one of the most trafficked piazzas in Rome. The atmosphere is on the romantic side of classic; walls are decorated with paintings, some lovely, some less so. Armando's sons currently own the place, and you'll see them every night, Claudio in the kitchen and Fabrizio working the front of the house. Pressed tablecloths and mood lighting elevate Armando's beyond your typical trattoria, making it a favorite for special dinners. And while the menu has all the traditional staples, the most popular items are somewhat fancier: duck with prunes, guinea fowl, and pasta dishes that steer more toward mushrooms, truffles, and earthy, woodsy flavors. Best dish:Tagliolini al tartufo. A bowl of fresh pasta comes topped with a generous helping of rich black truffles from Abruzzi or Umbria and a touch of olive oil. It's normally served as a first course, but nothing on the secondi list will be more delicious, so feel free to make it your main. Salita dei Crescenzi 31, 011-39/06-6880-3034, tagliolini al tartufo $27, closed Saturday nights and Sundays.

Osteria Qui Se MagnaPigneto

Romans like their restaurants bright, and Osteria Qui Se Magna, which roughly translates to "Here you eat well" in Roman dialect, is one of the most intensely lit. It may look like a cafeteria when you first walk in, with red-and-white-checked paper tablecloths and daily specials written in marker, but the place is packed every night with young families and artist types in ironic glasses who aren't too thrilled that you've discovered their little secret. A dedicated family operation, the restaurant is known in the neighborhood as Da Valeria despite the fact that Valeria's son and daughter, Paolo and Pina Zecchino, currently own it. The recipes, however, remain precisely as they've always been. Best dish:Pasta alla mafiosa. This is a heaping bowl of rigatoni corti tossed with tomato sauce, eggplant, and creamy ricotta. Don't make the beginner's mistake of eating it as it's presented: The pros know to mix it all until the ingredients melt together into a gooey sauce. Via del Pigneto 307A, 011-39/06-274-803, pasta alla mafiosa $8.25, closed Sundays.

Da LuciaTrastevere

Da Lucia is on one of those Roman streets that you see in movies: a tiny cobblestoned block with 500-year-old palazzi; laundry hangs out of the windows, and lightbulbs sway overhead. You half expect to see Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck dining at an outdoor table. In other words, this place is all charm. Da Lucia is hardly a secret (you'll see plenty of guidebooks on the neighboring tables), but unlike many trattorias, the food hasn't suffered. The menu is simple, with the ever-present selection of pastas and meat dishes; the antipasti are the real reason to come. On a nice night, be sure to ask for a table outside, and then start with the pecorino e miele (cheese and honey) or alici al limone (anchovies with lemon juice) and a bottle of vino rosso della casa. The owner, a bald man known simply as Uncle Ennio, is as likely to scowl at out-of-towners as he is to send over a tiramisu on the house. Don't take it personally—it's all part of the show. Best dish:Spaghetti alla gricia. A bowl of warm spaghetti is piled high with freshly grated pecorino cheese, cracked black pepper, and several chunks of salty, perfectly fatty pancetta. Vicolo del Mattonato 2B, 011-39/06-580-3601, spaghetti alla gricia $11.50, closed Mondays, cash only.

Recent Features

As seen on TV! We've followed Don Draper for seven seasons as he's crisscrossed the globe, be it via Cadillac or TWA flight. As the final episodes air, we're taking you back to the Golden Age of travel with a 'Mad Men'-inspired vacation guide for retro-style trips to cities Don visited.